10 Quads. Final Battle (1)
Dumph grunted as he tied a thick rope, slung over one arm, to the stern of the Gui Ship.
After managing to secure a rope as thick as his own forearm, he turned to Seowoon and shouted,
"All done over here!"
"Limin! Set us off!"
At Seowoon's order, Limin started the ship, and the Gui Ship began to move slowly.
"Dragging five is too much! We're not getting any speed."
Watching the ship move even slower than a basic panokseon, Seowoon shook his head.
"Dump! Untie one."
Looking at the thick rope he'd just tied with great effort, Dump let out a sigh.
"Can't I just cut it?"
"No. That's the last rope we've got."
Looking at the ropes prepared on the Gui Ship, Seowoon had come up with a strategy—connect the smallest of the question-mark-marked islands to the Gui Ship and tow them around.
Nam Sagwang, clearly unhappy with the plan, spoke up.
"Do you really think they'll move the way you want? The enemy is a war freak, known as the Mad General of the battlefield."
"I know a thing or two about war."
This survival game, which blatantly borrowed from Earth games, was a battlefield Seowoon knew better than anyone else, having spent over half his life gaming.
As he finished speaking, Seowoon sat down and closed his eyes.
As the energy of nature swirled around him and began to gather, Nam Sagwang quietly observed.
Suddenly, a strand of Seowoon's hair on the floor transformed into another Seowoon and jumped into the sea.
Using the rope tied to the island as a stepping path, the clone entered the island and untied the rope fastened to a large tree.
—I've untied it!
At the clone's shout, Dump, Jinnryg, and kichan began reeling in the rope from the ship.
Not long after, the freed island was engulfed in flames.
As the island burned intensely, as if the entire landmass had caught fire, Dump shook his head.
"This time, it's going up in flames."
"Better than a noisy explosion."
"Funny how it burns so well when it's surrounded by the sea."
Limin and kichan each made a comment as they watched the burning island from a distance.
"If it weren't for the clone, we'd never be able to inspect the islands, right?"
"No way. Even if we had spare lives, it would've been impossible."
While the team chatted, Seowoon was still focused on refilling his depleted middle dantian.
Creating one clone consumed about 20 units of seonki.
What was interesting was that if the clone stayed for over 10 minutes, another 20 units of seonki would be consumed, and maintaining transformation techniques continuously drained it as well.
In other words, inspecting just one island cost him 20 seonki.
With his current reserves, it was difficult to check every new island that kept appearing.
Even as he refilled his middle dantian, Seowoon continued practicing spiritual mastery.
He'd been doing it for a while, but still hadn't achieved the result he wanted.
"Damn it."
Seeing him open his eyes, Nam Sagwang asked,
"Not working out the way you hoped?"
"Yeah. I don't get it. The skill description said I could store seonki, but I can only refill the middle dantian—it doesn't let me store beyond that."
"I haven't dealt with this seonki stuff you use, so I can't give you any real advice."
The 150 units of seonki he had now were far from enough.
Creating a clone and using transformation drained it so fast that it was practically unusable. He was starting to feel anxious.
At first, he'd been confident that once he got used to spiritual mastery, he'd find a solution, but no breakthrough was in sight.
"When you try to force things, they always come with side effects. I'm living proof."
Nam Sagwang gave him some self-deprecating advice, which made Seowoon lift the corners of his mouth into a smile.
"Master, looks like you've guaranteed your survival in this game too. Maybe it's time to let go of the pressure to always make it to the top? If not this round, there's always the next."
Even Jinryng came over and said that, which made Seowoon feel noticeably lighter.
He couldn't say when it started, but he'd clearly become obsessed with reaching TOP 1.
He had forgotten how not long ago, the focus was just on surviving and looting.
"Whew. Thanks to you all, I feel better."
Seeing the relaxed look on his face, Limin asked,
"Shall we head out now?"
"Yeah."
The Gui Ship, now pulling four islands instead of five, began moving a bit faster.
"At this rate, we're about as fast as a carack."
Limin assessed the ship's speed calmly and nodded.
"Maybe just a bit slower than a carack, but close enough. Are you sure this is the right way?"
"Yeah. Right now, it's the only landmark we've got."
In the center of the map, there was a small patch of sea and islands instead of the usual darkness.
When Seowoon had asked Siren, they'd said that spot was the only exit leading out of this area.
"Bro, the number isn't dropping anymore. Looks like everyone who's coming in is already here."
"I figured that ever since the zone wall appeared yesterday."
223/1000
***
Kaina – died outside the restricted zone.
After midnight last night, the magnetic zone started forming in this sea area as well.
Seeing that, Seowoon assumed all surviving players had entered this area.
While he continued running spiritual mastery to gather seonki and check new islands, the loud boom of cannons echoed in the distance.
—BOOM! Boom!
"Sounds like a fight."
It was the first enemy encounter since entering this sea.
Seowoon positioned the ship under a gentle sea hill and then jumped into the water toward the island floating above it.
Nam Sagwang and Jinryng also jumped in to scout ahead.
Nam Sagwang used his water-walking technique, and Seowoon, now transformed into a mermaid, climbed onto the island first.
"Four versus six."
At Nam Sagwang's words, Seowoon pulled out his monocular and observed the battlefield, nodding in agreement.
Enemy ships seemed to be testing each other, circling and firing cannons while riding different sea currents.
"Looks like all the other squads are teaming up."
Seowoon nodded at Jinryng's comment as he arrived late and spoke up.
"There are ten ships on that side. The Warhound's fleet is roughly ten ships too. That makes twenty in total—so around 200 people."
"There's no guarantee each ship is fully crewed with ten people though."
"That's true. But they'd have at least eight. You need someone to fire the harpoons, steer the ship, at least two mages, and for close combat you'd need at least four knights or warriors."
"Still, how long are they going to keep firing harpoons like that? You'd think they'd clash properly by now."
"Could it be they're planning to join forces instead?"
Jinryung's suggestion made Namsagwang frown.
Given the current situation, it made more sense for them to team up rather than fight—at least if they weren't idiots.
"Feels like now would be the perfect time to interfere."
Namsagwang's tone was growing more eager, but Seowoon shook his head.
"If they decide to team up, that's even better. They'll become the perfect counter to the Warhound's fleet."
"I don't think that's what's happening."
As the cannon fire gradually lessened and ships began to close in with magic support, knights and warriors leapt across decks into enemy ships.
Soon after, the sounds of explosions and screams faded.
"It's already over?"
The three, eyes glued to their scopes, peered into the ship hidden behind a large sail.
"Looks like one side absorbed the other."
Jinryung nodded at Seowoon's words.
"So they won by overpowering them and took them in."
Namsagwang scowled.
"Pathetic weaklings. Bowing to the enemy for the sake of some game ranking."
"Even a single spot in the rankings can change how many coins you get."
Jinryung still seemed dissatisfied as he watched the ten ships fade into the distance.
"Three people just died. That leaves exactly 220 left."
Seowoon confirmed the enemy's retreat over the hills of the open sea and returned to his ship.
After explaining what had happened, Juriel spoke with a grim expression.
"So that means it's King Senrurk and the newly allied team forming a joint force."
"Not certain, but I saw about four knights among the new team who moved exceptionally well."
"The Sword Emperors?"
At Dump's question, Namsagwang nodded, prompting Dump to grumble.
"Damn it. Why do Sword Emperors keep showing up everywhere? They usually lock themselves up tight even in the imperial capital."
"That just means the game's level is going up."
"What next, we have to play survival games in a sea full of monsters like that?"
"If you keep surviving and rising, of course that's what'll happen."
It was meant as a complaint, but the immediate confirmation left Dump wide-eyed.
"Why are you so surprised? Did you think you'd always get easy opponents?"
"Not exactly… I just never thought I'd have to fight for survival in a place crawling with Sword Emperors."
Seowoon shook his head.
No matter the game, the highest ranks are filled with hardened veterans.
Trying to challenge those experts in their own domain was never going to be easy.
"But are we really doing this?"
At Limin's question, Seowoon glanced back at the islands being towed behind their ship and answered.
"Why else would we be dragging all that weight?"
"I just wonder if it'll go as planned."
"Even if it doesn't, we can definitely inflict damage."
Juriel added with concern.
"But what if the enemy doesn't act as expected, or variables arise that prevent you from using your clone?"
"In that case… one of us will have to go to the island and open the box manually."
At that response, a few teammates exchanged glances and raised their hands.
Juriel, Lilingwei, Lyle, and Limin.
"Hopefully it won't come to that, but if it does… act without hesitation."
At Seowoon's words, the four of them nodded firmly.
"The situation's turning in our favor. All we can do now is carry out the plan with everything we've got."
Time flew by.
Ten days passed, and the barrier restricting the Mirage Sea had greatly shrunk. In the meantime, lone squads like Seowoon's had fallen victim to the Warhound.
They had trailed the newly formed alliance team for ten days, always keeping their distance—and the opportunity they'd been waiting for finally arrived.
Ahead, between a split island in the center, a patch of unusually blue water stood out. On either side of the island, two fleets stared each other down.
The Warhound's fleet had claimed the island in advance, while the newly allied team had followed the map's central marker and now stood in confrontation.
Watching from afar, anchored in the distance, Seowoon opened the hatch on the side of his ship.
"Time your moves carefully. A mistake means a stupid death."
Seowoon smiled at Namsagwang's words.
All of the teammates were watching him with firm, resolved expressions.
"Don't worry too much. If things don't go as planned… we follow the operation."
The operation itself wasn't anything grand.
They'd rush in with the Gui ship while the enemies fought, blow up four islands, and kill as many enemies as possible—a suicide bombing tactic to raise their ranking.
With the weight of his teammates' expectations on his back, Seowoon leapt into the sea.
He immediately transformed into a mermaid and began swimming toward the tense battlefield.
A few Siren followed behind.
Looking up at the undersides of the floating ships, Seowoon gathered inner energy at his fingertips when suddenly, a booming voice echoed even beneath the sea.
"Surrender now, and we'll help you end the game with a high ranking!"
'What a load of crap.'
What they really meant was: "We'll kill everyone in each squad except one person, and end the game with one survivor per squad."
Theoretically, with 100 squads in a 1000-player, 10-person-per-squad game, that could result in a lowest possible ranking of TOP 100.
Surviving alone would still net considerable rewards.
It was a tactic that exploited the game's rule of basing final ranking on individual survivors, not team rankings.
This rule made teaming possible in squad games like this, but for Seowoon—who had always played solo or in tight-knit teams—teaming felt detestable.
"Hmph! You think I'd believe some gloryless Warhound? Even if I lose, I'll fight to the death with honor!"
'You call this honor? Take this instead.'
Seowoon, no longer needing to listen, reached toward the bottom of the lead ship in the Warhound's fleet.
His hand, enveloped in unstable crimson energy, struck the hull.
A powerful resistance from the barrier met his strike—but Seowoon hadn't expected to pierce it in one hit anyway.
Continuing his attacks, it wasn't long before a hole opened in the ship's underbelly.
For a brief moment, the bottom of the ship stirred with commotion as several knights and warriors dove into the sea.
"Faster than I expected."
Seowoon looked around mockingly at the enemies diving into the water with weapons in hand. He had thought at least three ships would need to be damaged before they reacted.
The enemies, seeing him in the form of a Siren, tilted their heads and swam toward Seowoon. But no human could outswim a mermaid in the water.
Seowoon, evading the pursuers, moved to another ship and repeated the same tactic. This time, enemies jumped into the sea even before he could punch a hole in the hull.
"There's a crazy Siren drilling holes under the ship!"
At that shout, enemies all around leaped into the water, but Seowoon didn't bother engaging anyone and focused solely on putting holes in the ships.
If weapons were swung at him or spells cast, he simply dodged and attacked a different ship.
Besides, most mages were physically weak and avoided entering the sea where they couldn't guarantee protection.
After drilling holes into four ships, a prolonged battle of attrition began between Seowoon, who continued boring holes, and the enemies who resisted by tossing repair tools onto the deck.
– Crack!
Once again, as he shoved his fingers into the reinforced hull that endured thanks to barriers and strong durability, an arrow sliced through the current toward him.
– Clang!
Even underwater, a sharp metallic sound rang out.
Seowoon's eyes narrowed as he blocked the arrow with Hammit, the item wrapped around his arm.
An archer who had entered the water and still moved nimbly, persistently firing at him, was becoming an annoyance.
He had ignored the guy because he kept dragging knights and warriors around with him, making a clean attack difficult—but the constant arrows were starting to grate on his nerves.
After glaring at the guy for a moment, Seowoon turned away and quickly moved to another ship.
An arrow from the archer sliced past him through the water.
Special Stat – Seonki: 83/150
"If only I had more Seonki…"
After a little more time boring holes into ships, finally, two vessels were sinking below the surface, unable to be repaired.
Looking around, Seowoon saw that over 50 furious players had gathered.
At first, they had dismissed him as just a crazy monster. But after he had used up all their repair kits by drilling through the hulls, they were finally realizing the seriousness of the situation.
"Fools. Leaving that many ships unattended…"
When Seowoon turned his gaze, the enemy fleet in the distance—previously locked in a standoff—began to move.
"They're coming! Everyone, get back up top!"
It was the natural course of things.
Just as the enemies who had been glaring at Seowoon with rage started to rush back to the surface, he drew his bow from his subspace.
"You're not getting away."
Still bearing two of the archer's arrows in his back, Seowoon aimed his bowstring at the elf who had persistently shot at him.
– Shwick! Thud!
A bolt sank straight into the back of the swimming elf's head, blood blooming in the water around him.
One nearby player, noticing the sudden limpness of the elf's body, turned around and screamed in shock.
Seowoon didn't have time to hear the cry, muffled as it was underwater.
– Special Stat – Seonki: 29/150
It was time to return.
"Tie the ships together so they don't sink!"
"Use ropes or whatever! Just link them to the undamaged ones! We're about to clash with the enemy!"
Hearing the distant shouts, Seowoon smirked as he made his way back to the flagship.
When holes form and ships start to sink, there are only two real options:
One, abandon the ship and board another.
Or two, tether it to a nearby vessel to maintain buoyancy.
That's why, among the ten ships labeled 1 through 10, Seowoon had only drilled into the hulls of ships 2, 4, 7, and 9—perfectly spaced to make tying them together necessary.
And the fact that the enemy fleet charged in at that very moment… was nothing short of divine fortune.
[T/L: Read extra chapters on my ko-fi page "Pokemon1920" : https://ko-fi.com/pokemon1920 ]